So I Straightened My Hair......Again.

I've made no secret of the fact that I prefer to wear my hair straight but the last couple of times I tried to straighten it I didn't get my desired results. Recently I bought a new flat iron (Revlon Perfect Heat ceramic 1 inch) and tried a new technique for straightening and I LOVE the results. I've been trying not to use a lot of heat on my hair and up until flat ironing the other day it's been going pretty well.

Anyway, this is what I did:

• Washed and condition my hair with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration moisturizing shampoo and conditioner
• Then I detangled my hair and parted into about 6 sections, braided and let it airdry
• I got impatient so I took the braids out before the hair was totally dry (in the future I'll let it dry overnight instead of trying during the day)
• After I took the braids out I used a round brush and blow dryer to straighten/stretch my roots
• Then I took small sections and flat ironed my hair

The only product I used after washing was Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioning repair cream. Afterward I just wrapped my hair and tied it in a scarf for bed. Pictures to follow.

It's hard to see but the top is blown dry and the bottom is flat ironed.

If you look closely you can see the different textures next to each other.

Shiny!!! lol

Another Day, Another Twist Out

After my most recent failed attempt at two strand/mini twists I decided to try to save my hair by doing another flat twist out. The waves/curls/whatever you wanna call them came out great but I still wasn't 100% satisfied, but then I'm rarely fully satisfied with my hair so that's nothing new. The twists were done on dry hair and left in my head for nearly a week. There were 6 twists total. 2 on each side and 4 going down the back of my head. The only product I used was Miss Jessie's Curly Buttercreme and I kept my hair tied in a scarf most of the time. The only time my hair was untied is when I left the house and then I just wore a hat but you can probably just wear the twists if you want (personally I just don't care for that look). Also, I still don't have soft rollers so I improvised with cotton balls and rubber bands on the ends to help them blend in...strange I know but it worked out surprisingly well.

In the future I'll try not to make the parts in my hair so defined and probably make the hair damp so the curls will last longer without having to keep the twists in so long. Here's a few pictures:

I know, they're starting to look a little rough. Probably from laying on them in my sleep. I definitely wasn't trying to sleep "pretty" with these in...lol

As you can see that side part is still pretty defined.

That's not a bald spot I promise! I just didn't cover the part...lol

View of the back.

Yet Another Braid-Out Attempt....

This is my third braid-out attempt after two VERY unsuccessful previous attempts. I have to say that I actually don't hate it. I was all set to hate my hair and swear off braid-outs forever but it's not that bad. It's not as good as I would like but at least this time I think I know what I did right and what I did wrong. For starters, I did it on dry, stretched hair. In the past I tried braid-outs on wet hair and it was just a mess, especially because I tried to do cornrows. I learned that I just can't braid my hair in cornrows while it's wet. That's pretty much the only thing I really did "right" with this braid-out. Everything else I still need to work on.

For starters, the curls in the back aren't defined as well as the ones on the front and sides. They look more like very loose waves than curls. That's probably because I'm not very good at doing cornrows in general and trying to do them on the back of my head is still hard for me. With a little more practice I'll be okay with that part. The other thing is that the ends are kinda funny looking. I don't have any soft rollers to put on the ends of the braids so I just tried to pin-curl but that didn't work out too well.


This is what I did:
-Separated hair into five sections with my fingers
-Applied coconut oil to the roots and Cantu Shea Butter leave in conditioning repair cream to the rest of the hair
-Braided in cornrows and pincurled the ends
-Tied up hair with a satin scarf

I left the braids in for two days before taking them out this morning. Here are some pictures: 

Back of my head, you can see there's really no definition to the curls.

After taking braids out, before styling.

Hair Tools: ConAir Styling Brush

Another product that I keep hearing about is this Denman brush. Everyone says it's good for detangling, etc, so I figured I should give it a try. Now that my hair has been growing out for a while it's becoming more difficult to comb through and detangle when it's wet.

After looking online I saw that the Denman brush is a little pricey so I held off on purchasing it. Then when I was in Rite Aid I happened to see a ConAir styling brush that looked very similar. I didn't buy it the first time I saw it because I wasn't entirely sure. I went back online to see what was so special about the Denman and I saw that the main thing was the rubber cushion base. The ConAir brush has the same type of base and is only $4.99 so I figured it's probably just as good.

I haven't used the brush yet but hopefully it'll get the job done. The label says it's for all-purpose styling and it's "great for thick, coarse hair." Only time will tell.

Hair Products: Miss Jessie's

Ever since I started looking more into transitioning I've been hearing about Miss Jessie's hair products. They recently had a buy one, get one free sale so I figured it was a good time to buy a few products at a reduced rate and try them out. The products I got were the Curly Pudding, Curly Butter Creme (not pictured) and Curly Meringue. I haven't had a chance to try them yet but it seems like everyone that uses these products swears by them. Hopefully they live up to the hype. I'll keep you posted!